Page 39 of The Wanted Prince

We crept out the next morning at quarter to six, stopping to raid the vending machines. I drove us up the coast till the buildings thinned out, giving way to dry grass and dark, scrubby trees.

“Where are we going?” Laura asked.

“I’m not sure. I’ll know it when I see it.”

I saw it another hour’s drive up the coast, a stretch of white beach shielded by trees, the path to reach it choked out with weeds. It looked like a lonely place, remote. Forgotten. I pulled the car over and reached for our snacks.

“Can we even get down there?”

I winked. “Let’s find out.”

Laura took my arm and we picked our way down, stumbling on wood steps buried in weeds. We pushed our way through the trees and out to the beach, and Laura’s face lit up as she took in the view.

“It’s perfect,” she said.

My chest swelled. It was. The morning was gorgeous, the sky clear and blue. Gentle waves lapped up on gleaming white sand. Gulls wheeled overhead, specks in the sky. Best of all was the sea breeze cool on my face.

“So quiet.” Laura shook out a rough hotel towel, and she sat down on it and kicked off her shoes. I sat down beside her and watched the breakers roll in. I must have been frowning, because Laura nudged me.

“What are you thinking?”

I stretched out. “Not much.”

She leaned up beside me so our shoulders bumped. “Is it Maria? Are you still upset?”

I started to say no, but maybe it was. I’d been tense since we left her, and I still couldn’t settle. I reached into our snack bag and pulled out some pretzels, more to distract myself than because I was hungry.

“I wasn’t fully honest with her,” I said. “Or, I guess, with you.”

Laura took the pretzels and opened the bag. She handed it back to me. “How weren’t you honest?”

“It was…” I paused, trying to put my guilt into words. I’d never let myself dwell much on what happened back then, but it had always stuck with me, a weight I couldn’t put down. “I didn’t lie,” I said. “I really did feel bad I didn’t fight for her. But that wasn’t why I was ashamed to reach out. Why I couldn’t face her. Why I can’t face myself.”

Laura’s hand brushed mine, but she stayed quiet. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat.

“When I heard what had happened, when her father got arrested, the first thing I thought was oh, thank God. The first thing I felt was this rush of relief. Only for a second, but that’s what I felt. Because I knew our engagement was over.” I watched the birds wheeling, white in the sun. “She was my friend and her family was crumbling, and my first thought was oh, good, now we can’t get married. What kind of person would think that way?”

Laura stole a pretzel and bit it in half. “You can’t help how you feel,” she said. “Just what you do. But what I’ve got to wonder is, why the relief? You were friends, weren’t you? You got along? Isn’t that the best case for an arranged marriage?”

A cohort of wispy clouds stretched along the horizon. I watched them drift without really seeing them.

“I suppose so,” I said. “For an arranged marriage. But the thing is with marriage, it’s a lifelong commitment. I got along with Maria, yes. We were friends. But our marriage would’ve been built on convenience. On our families’ agendas, not on our friendship. Call me a fool, but I want more than that.”

I could feel Laura’s eyes on me. “What do you want?”

“Love,” I said, simply. “I want to marry for love. I’m not so naïve I think love conquers all, but doesn’t it help, having that to come back to? No marriage is perfect, so when mine hits the rocks, I want that to remind me what I’m fighting for. I want to look into my wife’s angry face and think this is why I love her. Her conviction. Her passion. I want to be able to look back on the good times, and look forward to better times ahead. I do think it matters, having that to come back to — knowing I chose her, and she chose me. We loved each other enough to choose a lifetime together.”

“A lifetime together…” Laura’s voice was faint. I turned and our eyes met.

“Real trust,” I said. “That’s what I want. Someone who knows me inside and out, and I know her, and we’d still choose each other.”

Laura’s eyes were wide and blue as the sky, her lips slightly parted as though in surprise. My heart did a sudden leap, and I couldn’t breathe. The air was charged between us, like a shiver of static. The hairs rose on my arms and at the nape of my neck. I trusted her, didn’t I? More than anyone else. Who else would’ve come with me on this fool’s errand? Who could I have asked, other than Laura?

She was breathing fast, I saw, the color high in her cheeks. I could kiss her right now and tell her without words, you’re the one I trust, and I think I could love you. What were generations of feuding stacked up against us? Love might not conquer all, but we could?—

“Hey!”

Laura yelped. I jumped a foot. I scrambled upright and spun around, and my heart did a high-dive straight to my boots. A stranger was charging us, waving and shouting. Brandishing his phone at us. This was it. We were caught.